Master's Thesis

Simulação e análise de Cortinas de Ar - modelo CFD de lojas com ligação ao exterior

André Ferreira Ibarra Costa Duarte2024

Key information

Authors:

André Ferreira Ibarra Costa Duarte (André Ferreira Ibarra Costa Duarte)

Supervisors:

Maria Odete Magalhães de Almeida; José Manuel Da Silva Chaves Ribeiro Pereira (José Manuel Da Silva Chaves Ribeiro Pereira)

Published in

11/18/2024

Abstract

Air curtains are devices powered by a fan that create an invisible barrier of air between different environments without limiting the access of people or vehicles, unlike cold doors or curtains. With the growing concern regarding energy consumption, research into energy efficiency of these curtains in commercial environments becomes essential. The aim is to quantify the impact of different external temperatures on the efficiency of an air curtain in a store located in the Lisbon metropolitan area. To do this, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used. Due to the complexity of the simulation, the process was divided into three phases: micro, meso and macro scale studies of a diffuser, to reduce the number of computational cells; verification through a mesh convergence analysis; and validation of the jet behaviour, comparing with analytical results. The results showed that the efficiency of the air curtain was maximized for winter cases, where the use of the curtain allowed a significant reduction of the energy needed to heat the internal environment, with small temperature differences still resulting in energy savings compared to the case without a curtain. However, in summer situations, the curtain proved to be less efficient, requiring a greater temperature difference between the spaces to justify the energy consumption of an air curtain.

Publication details

Authors in the community:

Supervisors of this institution:

Fields of Science and Technology (FOS)

mechanical-engineering - Mechanical engineering

Publication language (ISO code)

por - Portuguese

Rights type:

Embargoed access

Date available:

09/05/2025

Institution name

Instituto Superior Técnico